Wrench or spanner.



PATENTED JAN. 13

J. H. MORGAN. WRENCH OR SPANNER.

APPLICATION TILED AUG. 5, 1902.

2 mum's-431mm 1.

IN VEIWORS.

F/CZJ.

WIN/8858.-

Arron/Vim,

PATENTED JAN. 13

J. H. MORGAN. WRENCH OR SPANNBR. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

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Maw (m7 a ATTORNEYS.

THE NORRIS PETERS ca, Puoruurna. wnumawm D Q UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JOHN HENRY MORGAN, OF I'IARROGATE, ENGLAND.

WRENCH OR SPANNER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,501, dated January13, 1903.

Application filed August 5,1902. Serial No. 118,588. (No model.)

To 00% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY MORGAN, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at Harrogate, in the county of York,England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenchesor Spanners, (for which I have made application for a patent in GreatBritain, No. 8,641, dated April 14, 1902,) of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to the construction of an improved wrench orspanner which is primarily intended for use in connection with cycles.

Adjustable wrenches or spanners as hitherto constructed arein severalrespects defective. Among the prominent defects of these wrenches orspanners is the tendency of the movable jaw to shift slightly afteradjustment and for the movable jaw to open out, thus preventing a firmgrip on the nut being obtained. Moreover, the adj ustment-screwordinarily used becomes frequently jammed, is sometimes difficult tooperate, and requires to be frequently oiled.

My invention is intended to remedy these defects and at the same time toproduce a wrench or spanner of simple construction which can be producedat a low price. I at the same time produce a wrench or spanner which isas rigid as the so-called fixed spanner and obviates the inherentdefects of this type of wrench, inasmuch as my wrench or spanner iscapable of fine adjustment and of turning all sizes of nuts.

According to my invention I make a wrench or spanner in threeeasily-detachable parts, two of which are adjustable with respect to oneanother, while the third part serves as a means for retaining the othertwo parts in their adjusted positions and for consolidating the parts ofthe wrench or spanner.

The accompanying sheets of drawings illustrate my invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the complete spanner, the jawsbeing closed. Figs. 2 and 3 are views of the adj ustable parts of thewrench or spanner. Fig. 4: is an elevation, partly in section, of thesleeve. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of Fig. 1, taken along the line AB. Fig. 6 is a section taken along the line E F, Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is asimilar section showing a different form of cross-section of stems andsleeve. Fig. 8 is a plan in section taken along the line C I), Fig. 1.Figs. 9, 10, and 11 are views showing part of my improvements applied toa wrench or spanner provided with only one pair ofjaws; and Figs. l2,l3, and 14 are similar views showing part of myimprovements applied to apipe-wrench.

In the difierent views similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts.

aaarethe twostems orshanks of the wrench or spanner, which are providedon their faces with a suitable number of uniformly-spaced ratchet orother teeth or-projections b. The ratchet-teeth or projections on theone stem, a, correspond to and are adapted to engage with the teeth onthe other stem, at, as indicated in Fig. 5.

c is a long sleeve which snugly fits on the exterior of the combinedstems a a and may, if desired, be provided at suitable parts with holes0 in order to facilitate the placing of the sleeve on the combined stemsand its removal therefrom and also to allow the escape of any dirt orthe like which might otherwise cause the sleeve to adhere to thecombined stems. I prefer to make the sleeve 0 of at least the samelength as the stem or shank carrying the lower jaw or jaws. The stems orshanks a a are preferably made of such a shape in cross-section thatwhen placed together face to face they form a contour other thancircular in cross-section, so as to prevent the rotation of the sleeve 0on the combined stems a a.

In the embodiments of my invention illustrated by the accompanyingdrawings I have shown in particular in Fig. 6 a sleeve 0 of internaloval shape snugly fittinga pair of stems of combined correspondingcross-section, as this is the simplest and possibly the bestcrosssection; but it is obvious that the cross-section of the combinedstems and the shape of the interior of the sleeve may be of square,

rectangular, polygonal, or other suitable con-- tour. For instance, thesaid cross-section and contour may assume the shape shown in Fig. 7.

d d are the jaws of the wrench or spanner, which are preferably formedin one with the stems or shanks a a. In the preferred form of myinvention (illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 8 of the accompanyingdrawings) each stem or shank is provided with a pair of jaws (l d and dd, and when this particular arrangement of duplex jaws is employed thedifference in the distance or space between the pair of jaws on the oneside of the wrench or spanner and the distance or space between the jawson the other side of the wrench or spanner is so arranged that it isequal to onehalf of the pitch of the ratchet or other teeth on the innerfaces of the stems or shanks. Thus if the pitch of the ratchet-teeth orthe like on the stems or shanks is one-sixteenth of an inch thedifference in the distances or spaces between the pairs of jaws cl (1and (Z d on opposite sides of the wrench or spanner will be onethirty-second of an inch. This difference is shown in Fig. 1, whichillustrates the wrench or spanner in its closed position.

I have found that with the above-menti0n ed pitch of teeth anddifference in the spaces between the jaws on opposite sides of thewrench or spanner I am enabled to obtain adjustments for the jaws whichsuffice for all practical purposes, and I produce a wrench or spannerwhich while as rigid as the ordinary so-called fixed wrench or spanneris capable of turning all sizes of nuts.

Although I have specified above one particular pitch of ratchet-teethequal to onesixteenth of an inch, quite as good a result may be obtainedif the pitch of teeth is made smaller.

In order to give additional rigidity to the parts of the wrench orspanner, I form in the upper part of the stem or shank carrying thelower jaw or jaws a recess or guide 6, shaped to correspond incrosssection to the upper rectangular portion f of the stem or shankcarrying the upper jaw or jaws, and the remaining portion of this stem(shown semi-oval in cross-section in Fig. 6 and of a slightly-differentcross-section in Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings) is made of thesame width as the said rectangular portion f, so that the said guide orrecess still acts as an additional means for insuring the rigidity ofthe wrench or spanner when the jaws thereof have been adjusted to grip anut the distance between opposite faces of which is greater than thelength of said rectangular portion of the stem or shank. Theabove-described arrangement of recess or guide and rectangular portionof the stem also facilitates the rapidity of adjustment of the wrench orspanner, as the upper stem while being slipped over the lower stem iskept parallel thereto, and the two stems or shanks are then ready to beinclosed by the sleeve.

In lieu of providing each stem or shank with two jaws, one on each sideof the stem, I may provide each stem or shank with only one jaw, asillustrated in the modification shown by Figs. 9, 10, and 11.

It is obvious that the jaws of the wrench may be set at an angleandaprovided with teeth or serrations, so as to constitute a pipewrench,as illustrated by Figs. 12, 13, and 14c.

The lower ends of the stems or shanks, especially when the wrench orspanner is intended for use with cycles, may be adapted to form usefultools-such, for instance, as a tool or device for facilitating theremoval of the covers of pneumatic tires, a screw-driver, or a fixedwrench or spanner, the jaws of which may be stepped or otherwise formed,so as to be used with more than one size of nut. As the sleeve ispreferably formed of a length at least equal to the length of the stemor shank carrying the lower jaw or jaws, the addition of these tools tothe stems or shanks will not detract from the appearance of the wrenchor spanner when being used for gripping and turning nuts or otherobjects. In the accompanying drawings I have shown the end of one stemformed as a screw-driver g and the end of the other stem as a tool h forfacilitating the removal of the cover of a pneumatic tire. The jaw orjaws at the end of the stems or shanks afford a ready means for grippingthese separate tools, and I prefer to make the exterior of the jaws assmooth as possible.

To adjust the wrench to a nut, the sleeve is slipped off the combinedstems. One stem is held between the thumb and first finger of the lefthand, and its jaw is brought against one face of the nut. The other stemis then held by the thumb and first finger of the right hand,is placedon the lowerstem, and is canted slightly on its rear end and is pushedforward until its jaw comes in contact with the opposite side of thenut. The raised end of the upper stem is then allowed to fall, the twostems are grasped between the thumb and first finger of the left hand,and the sleeve is slipped on the two stems. Owing to the fact that thesleeve snugly fits the combined stems with only sufficient clearance topermit of the sleeve being easily placed on and removed from thecombined stem, the sleeve will without provision remain thereon, asthere is no tendency when turning a nut or other object for the sleeveto move in the direction of its length. The use of ratchet-teeth on theinner faces of the stems is preferable, as it permits of theabove-described canting and pushing action; but it will be readilyunderstood that other teeth of different shape-for instance, V-shapedteethmigl1t be used and the upper stem lifted away from and dropped ontothe lower stem.

I wish it to be understood that I do not bind myself to the exactdetails of my invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, asthey can be considerably varied.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wrench or spanner the combination of two parts each consistingof a stem or shank provided at its upper end with a jaw or jaws andprovided on its inner face with a set of IIO uniformly spaced teeth orprojections, the teeth or projections on the one stem or shanktcorresponding to the teeth or projections on the other stem or shank,and a third part consisting of a long non-rotatable sleeve adapted to beslipped onto and snugly fit the combined stems or shanks throughout thewhole or major portion of their length, substantially as described.

2. In a Wrench or spanner the combination of two parts each consistingof a stem or shank provided at its upper end with a pair of jaws andprovided on its inner face with a set of uniformly-spaced teeth orprojections, the teeth on the one stem or shank corresponding to theteeth or projections on the other stem or shank and the difference inthe distance or space between opposite jaws on the one side of thewrench or spanner and the distance or space between opposite jaws on theother side of the wrench or spanner being one-half of the pitch of theteeth or projections on the inner faces of the stems or shanks, and athird part consisting of a non-rotatable sleeve adapted to he slippedonto and to snugly fit the combined stems or shanks for the whole ormajor portion of their length, substantially as described.

3. In a Wrench or spanner the combinationof two stems or shanks ofsemi-oval cross-section each provided at its upper end with jawsarranged on opposite sides of the axis of the stem or shank and providedon its inner face with uniformly-spaced ratchet-teeth, the upper part ofthe stem or shank carrying the lower set of jaws being provided with arectangular recess or guide of the same width as JOHN HENRY MORGAN.

Witnesses:

RD. B. NIOHOLLS, FRED HAMMOND.

